Diana Containerships has almost halved its first-quarter loss in an improving market.

The US-listed boxship owner posted net loss of $3.9m for the quarter, down from a $7.4m for the same period last year.

Revenue more than doubled to $8m from $3.8m as the company upped fleet utilisation by almost a third to 90%.

Diana attained time charter equivalent (TCE) rates per day of $8,028 for the quarter, a 161% improvement over rates achieved a year earlier.